Abstract Global Software Development (GSD) involves multiple sites which comprise of different cultures and time zones apart from geographical locations. It is a common software development approach adopted to achieve competitiveness. However, due to multiple challenges it can result in misunderstandings and rework. Rework raises the chance of project failure by delaying the project and increasing the estimated budget. The aim of this study is to identify and categorize the rework causes to reduce its frequency in GSD. To identify the empirical literature related to causes of rework, we performed a Systematic Literature Review (SLR). A total of 23 studies are included as a result of final inclusion. The empirical literature from the year 2009 to 2020 is searched. The overall identified causes of rework in GSD are categorized into 6 major categories which are communication, Requirement Management (RM), roles of stakeholders, product development/integration issues, documentation issues, and differences among stakeholders. The most reported rework causes are related to the category of communication & coordination and RM. Moreover, an industrial survey is conducted to validate the identified rework causes and their mitigation practices from practitioners. This study will help practitioners and researchers in addressing the identified causes and therefore reduce the chances of rework.

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[47] Zafar A., Ali S., and Shahdzad R., “Investigating Integration Challenges and Solutions in Global Software Development,” in Proceedings of Frontiers of Information Technology, Islamabad, pp. 291-297, 2011. Appendices This report contains a review, collected from defined data sources. This method is implemented by using the above (section 4.4) defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Table 8. Paper types. Paper type Type Code Article A Book B International Conference IC Journal J Thesis T Table 9. Detail of final selected studies. PC Type Database Publication year Address PC1 J Springer 2015 Y PC2 J Science Direct 2015 Y PC3 IC Science Direct 2013 Y PC4 A ACM 2015 Y PC5 IC IEEE 2014 Y PC6 IC ACM 2011 Y PC7 J Other 2014 Y PC8 J Other 2016 Y PC9 J IEEE 2011 Y PC10 J Science Direct 2013 Y PC11 J Science Direct 2014 Y PC12 J Springer 2009 Y PC13 J Science Direct 2014 Y PC14 IC IEEE 2014 Y PC15 IC IEEE 2012 Y PC16 A Other 2015 Y PC17 IC IEEE 2011 Y PC18 IC Other 2010 Y PC 19 IC Other 2020 Y PC 20 IC Other 2019 Y PC 21 J ACM 2018 Y PC 22 J Other 2021 Y PC 23 A Other 2009 Y Table 10. Paper codes. PC Paper Title PC1. “A Flexible Management Approach for Globally Distributed Software Projects.” PC2. “A method of requirements change management for global software development.” PC3. “A Proposed Framework for Communication Risks during RCM in GSD.” PC4. “A Systematic Literature Review on Global Software Development Life Cycle.” PC5. “Communication Risks in GSD during RCM: Results from SLR.” PC6. “Analysis of Project Productivity, Quality, and Profits.” PC7. “Defect Prevention and Process Improvement Methodology for Outsourced Software Projects.” PC8. “Requirement management a key to successful project management for software systems.” PC9. “Investigating Integration Challenges and Solutions in Global Software Development.” PC10. “Risks and risk mitigation in global software development: A tertiary study.” PC11. “Software product management – An industry evaluation.” PC12. “Tension between perceived collocation and actual geographic distribution in project teams.” PC13. “The impact of global dispersion on coordination, team performance and software quality – A systematic literature review.” PC14. “Using Agile practices to solve Global Software Development problems – A Case Study.” PC15. “A Propose Framework for Requirement Change Management in Global Software Development.” PC16. “An Improved Framework for Requirement Change Management in Global Software Development.” PC17. “An Iterative Approach for Global Requirements Elicitation: A Case Study Analysis.” PC18. “Requirements Understanding in Global Software Engineering: Industrial Surveys.” PC 19 “Developing a Release Management Tool to Support Global Software Development.” PC 20 “Investigating Critical Success Factors of Project Management in Global Software Development: A Work in Progress.” PC 21 “A Project Management Framework for Global Software Development.” PC 22 “Do scaling agile frameworks address global software development risks? An empirical study.” PC 23 “Challenges and Improvements in Distributed Software Development: A Systematic Review  Analysis of selected studies: Table 11 shows the codes of causes and sub-causes of rework which are used in Table 12 for analysis. By using codes all sub-causes are marked in a particular paper to provide us the overall view. 108 The International Arab Journal of Information Technology, Vol. 19, No. 1, January 2022 Table 11. Causes code. Main Cause Main Cause-code Sub Cause Sub Cause-code Communication cause CC Poor interpersonal relationship CC1 Task Awareness CC2 Availability Awareness CC3 Phonetic spellings CC4 Lack of informal communication CC5 Misinterpretation of technical vocabulary CC6 Poorly communicated requirements CC7 Poorly communicated module objectives CC8 Requirement Management RMC Frequent change in requirements RMC 1 Non implementation of identified requirements RMC2 Poor planning of RMP RMC3 Change un-notified RMC4 Mistakes at requirements elicitation phase RMC5 Lack of shared understanding RMC6 Ineffective flow of changed information in RCM RMC7 Tool mismatch RMC8 Roles RC Stakeholder’s Unaligned agenda RC1 Absence of product manager RC2 Product Development and Integration PDIC Poor integration PDIC1 Mismatch of methodology and development process PDIC2 Mismatches in management approaches PDIC3 Project management challenges PDIC4 Fast track projects PDIC5 Documentation DC Outdated documentation in system design DC1 Differences of Stakeholders DSC National differences DSC1 Cultural differences DSC2 Organizational differences DSC3 Table 12. Paper analysis. PC PC1 PC2 PC3 PC4 PC5 PC6 PC7 PC8 PC9 PC10 PC11 PC12 PC13 PC14 PC15 PC16 PC17 PC18 PC19 PC20 PC21 PC22 PC23 Sub cause-code CC1   CC2    CC3  CC4  CC5   CC6   CC7  CC8  RMC1  RMC2  RMC3  RMC4  RMC5    RMC6   RMC7   RMC8  RC1  RC2  PDIC1  PDIC2  PDIC3  PDIC4  PDIC5  DC1  DSC1   DSC2    DSC3   The Table 12 below represents the analysis of each selected study, columns represent the paper-code of each study and rows of entire table represent identified causes. Systematic Literature Review: Causes of Rework in GSD 109 Shiza Nawaz is a PhD student at IIU Islamabad, Pakistan. She holds a Bachelor degree of software engineering from University of AJK Muzaffarabad in 2014, and a Master degree in Software Engineering from IIUI in 2019. As academician, here research interests are: Global Software Development, Requirement Engineering, and Block chain. She is teaching as lecturer at IIUI. Anam Zai holds her Bachelor’s degree of Computer Science from FUUAST, Islamabad Pakistan in 2016 and a Master’s degree in Software Engineering from IIU Islamabad, Pakistan in 2019. She is pursuing her Ph.D. in Software Engineering from the same University and her doctoral work involves Blockchain Technology, Information Security, GSD and Agile. She is a Lecturer at IIUI and, also working as “Specialist Information Security Risk” in banking sector. Salma Imtiaz holds a PhD (Computing) Degree from Riphah International University, Islamabad. She is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering (DCSSE), International Islamic University, Islamabad. She works in the area of Global Software Development, Software Requirement Engineering, Empirical Software Engineering and Agile Software Development. She heads the Software Engineering Research Group at International Islamic University. She has presented at national and international conferences and serves as a reviewer to many conferences and journals. Humaira Ashraf received BCS degree from Balochist an University, Quetta, Pakistan in 2005 and MSCS degree from BUITEMS, Quetta, Pakistan in 2008. She received the Ph.D. degree in computer science (with majors in cellular mobile networks and wireless networks) from International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan in 2017. She has published several papers in Impact Factor Journals and International Conferences. She is also reviewer of many ISI-indexed and Impact Factor Journals. Her areas of interest include Wireless Sensor Networks, Next Generation Networks, Internet of Things, Network Security, IP Multimedia Sub-system, Voice over LTE and Voice over IP